When this came out, I got the impression of a middling reception that didn't live up to the hype. More recently, I've seen it counted among the more popular DC Comics non-Batman movies. Perhaps Dark Knight Trilogy writers Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer helped. It was time for an informed opinion.
You might see this as something of a remake of both Superman: The Movie and Superman II, minus Lex Luthor. It begins with the birth of Kal-El shortly before riding away from the explosion of his home planet, Krypton. When we first see him as an adult on Earth going by Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) among other names, he hasn't started calling himself Superman, wearing the iconic costume, saving the day regularly, or even reporting news for the Daily Planet; he's just working odd jobs and vanishing whenever someone catches him using his powers. Reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) tracks him down just as he discovers the answers of his origin left for him by his father, Jor-El (Russell Crowe). But her testimony isn't what really draws the world's attention to the existence of ETs, because a group of renegade Kryptonians under General Zod (Michael Shannon) publicly demands that Kal-El be turned over. You see, Jor-El sent a crucial MacGuffin with him to prevent Zod from kickstarting a "pure" society....
I had never seen so much of Krypton before. For all its admirable advancement, it is far from utopian. Kal-El was the first natural birth in centuries. In fact, I finally understand why Jor-El and wife Lara (Ayelet Zurer) saved only him: They wanted any remaining Kryptonian to be free of eugenicist selection. Ironically, most other survivors were their last choices, because imprisonment can mean protection.
Unlike in S2, the forces of Zod are not just a trio relying entirely on superpowers; there are about a dozen criminals with plenty of technology scavenged from dead Kryptonian colonies. And where Zod previously wanted nothing but dominion, he is now both better and worse. On one hand, we can hardly blame him for wanting to rescue his species from extinction. OTOH, instead of taking time to let Kryptonians adapt to Earth, he insists on terraforming it at the expense of all native fauna. As much as Kal-El feels like an outsider among paranoid humans, he can't get on board with Zod's program for a moment.
The result is more destruction than your usual Superman story, which seems to be the main cause of complaints. Director Zack Snyder does have a reputation for excess. I didn't mind so much, partly because with a PG-13 rating, we see more leveled buildings than definite casualties. Of greater concern to me was the increase in darkness, literal and figurative. I preferred the hamminess of Terence Stamp's Zod, and his sidekicks Ursa and Non seemed more fun than Faora-UI (Antje Traue) and Jax-Ur (Mackenzie Gray), let alone the less notable Kryptonians.
On the plus side, Superman himself gets a more interesting backstory than in prior feature films, told primarily in flashbacks. I've long felt that he functions better as an ideal than as a character, but here he experiences genuine pathos. For most of his life, he doesn't know what to make of himself. Adoptive parents Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane) discourage him from being a hero early on, if only because of the freak-out factor. And things don't exactly get easier for him when Zod forces his hand. Cavill looks odd when scruffy but is otherwise great for the part.
In retrospect, one of my favorite aspects of S1 and S2 (the Richard Donner cut, at least) was Margot Kidder's spunky Lois. Adams' Lois isn't bad, just...ordinary, as Pulitzer Prize winners go. At least she does good legwork, even if boss Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) doesn't fully appreciate what she has to show for it. And she and Superman don't fall in love as super-fast as they might have. (My other favorite aspect was the John Williams theme. Sorry, Hans Zimmer.)
The filmmakers appear to be going for an upgrade in overall credibility. Alas, that's kind of a lost cause when dealing with aliens who naturally look completely human and have no language barrier. And while the writing has some intelligence, a few moments made me think, "Wait, why?" -- and not in the same way as a good Nolan picture.
On balance, MoS is about tied with S1 in my book. Certainly better than Superman Returns, and I haven't watched any Supes movies less popular than that. I might put it ahead of Aquaman. Make of this what you will.
No comments:
Post a Comment